Brazos Bend State Park

Pond Life

Crustaceans

Crustaceans are creatures with hard shells over their bodies. They are arthropods, like spiders and insects which means that they have segmented bodies and segmented legs. Crustaceans exhibit the greatest diversity in size of all of the groups of pond invertebrates, ranging from crayfish over 6 inches long to copepods less than 2 mm long.

Copepod 1.4 mm long

Crayfish 6 inches from pincer to pincer

The most common forms of crustaceans that are found in the ponds at Brazos Bend State Park are:

Crayfish and Freshwater Shrimp – order Decapoda

Aquatic Sow Bugs– order Isopoda

Scuds – Amphipoda

Water Fleas – order Chladocera

Copepods – order Copepoda

Crayfish and Freshwater Shrimp

Arachnids